 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2023) |
 Wade circa 1950 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 15, 1892 Trenton, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | October 6, 1986 (aged 94) Durham, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1914–1916 | Brown |
| Position(s) | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1918–1920 | Fitzgerald & Clarke School (TN) |
| 1921–1922 | Vanderbilt (assistant) |
| 1923–1930 | Alabama |
| 1931–1941 | Duke |
| 1946–1950 | Duke |
| Basketball | |
| 1918–1921 | Fitzgerald & Clarke School (TN) |
| 1921–1923 | Vanderbilt |
| Baseball | |
| 1922–1923 | Vanderbilt |
| 1924–1927 | Alabama |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1923–1930 | Alabama |
| 1951–1960 | SoCon (commissioner) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 171–49–10 (college football) 24–16 (college basketball) 87–45–2 (college baseball) |
| Bowls | 2–2–1 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 3 National (1925–1926, 1930) 10 SoCon (1924–1926, 1930, 1933, 1935–1936, 1938–1939, 1941) | |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 1955 (profile) | |
William Wallace Wade (June 15, 1892 – October 6, 1986) was an American football player and coach of football, basketball, and baseball, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Alabama from 1923 to 1930 and at Duke University from 1931 to 1941 and again from 1946 to 1950, compiling a career college football record of 171–49–10. His tenure at Duke was interrupted by military service during World War II. Wade's Alabama Crimson Tide football teams of 1925, 1926, and 1930 have been recognized as national champions, while his 1938 Duke team had an unscored upon regular season, giving up its only points in the final minute of the 1939 Rose Bowl. Wade won a total of ten Southern Conference football titles, four with Alabama and six with the Duke Blue Devils. He coached in five Rose Bowls including the 1942 game, which was relocated from Pasadena, California to Durham, North Carolina after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Wade served as the head basketball and baseball coach at Vanderbilt University for two seasons (1921–1923), tallying a mark of 24–16, while he was an assistant football coach there. He was also the head baseball coach at Vanderbilt from 1922 to 1923 and at Alabama from 1924 to 1927, amassing a career college baseball record of 87–45–2. Wade played football at Brown University. After retiring from coaching, Wade served as the commissioner of the Southern Conference from 1951 to 1960. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1955. Duke's football stadium was renamed in his honor as Wallace Wade Stadium in 1967.